


Enthusiasm

by DemonSquipster



Category: Something Rotten! - Kirkpatrick/Kirkpatrick/O'Farrell
Genre: Blind Date, F/M, M/M, Modern AU, No Caterpillar-Browed Sour Grape, Partially Historically Accurate Will, Poor Will, Rob McClure’s Nick Bottom, Will and Portia are Friends, Writing Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13543461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonSquipster/pseuds/DemonSquipster
Summary: Nick Bottom gets set on a blind date by his younger brother, Nigel, and Nigel’s girlfriend, Portia. He wasn’t expecting a guy to show up.





	Enthusiasm

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: two fridges. One filled with take-out boxes, the other filled with vegetables. ‘The owners of these fridges go on a blind date. Tell that story.’

“What kinds of things do you like?”   
“Writing, mostly. I act from time to time, but I’m typically too busy.”  
“Really? Me too. Well, my brother writes more than I do, but I try.”  
“Are you any good?” Nick grimaced, before shaking his head. “Not really,” he admitted with a small frown. Will laughed lowly. “You?” Will nodded. “We’d have to meet up sometime again, exchange writings.” 

Nick had been sent on this blind date by his brother and his girlfriend, who was certain he’d found a great person for him. Nick had showed up… and realized Nigel had meant a guy. Nick wasn’t exactly complaining though, Will seemed nice enough. A little arrogant - though Nick hoped it was probably just Will trying to impress him. 

Will didn’t mind Nick either. He always had difficulty dating. No one seemed his type, though he didn’t even know what his type was. Nick and Will liked the same things, which definitely was a plus. Will had found an equal in Nick mentally. Physically, you could see the differences. Will’s eyes were a light blue-grey, whereas Nick’s were a dark brown. Will stood taller than Nick, who was a little stocky. Will was slimmer, and swifter. They seemed to be opposites. 

Will sat back in his seat, and took a drink of his water. They’d met at a restaurant of Nigel - Nick’s brother’s choosing. Nick had to admit, the restaurant wasn’t somewhere he would usually go. He would usually just order some take-out, and be good with that. Will wasn’t like that. Healthy foods ninety percent of the time. Anything unhealthy would be fine if he was treating himself, but not otherwise. He liked cooking. The satisfaction of eating something he made was worth it to him. Nick didn’t really know how to cook all that much. Usually, Nigel would cook. Nick was the older one though, and he felt bad feeling helpless in the kitchen as his younger brother did everything for him. 

Will had ended up being the third of eight kids. It was ridiculous at times, but he had siblings to rely on. He had cared for his younger siblings, doing things that his older siblings would have done. He was the first child of his parents to survive over a year, and it downhearted him every time he thought of it. But he decided he had to try and be everything he could, for his parents. Luckily for them, they were able to have other children that lived long. He never knew his older sisters, but he still loved them. He wasn’t sure how much of that Nick had been told, which as it turns out, he wasn’t told any of that. Nick had no idea how much Will had been through throughout the years. 

“I wouldn’t be against that,” Nick finally spoke up. Will smiled a little. There was silence again. Was writing all they had in common? Will sighed. “What else do you do?” Nick looked up from his food. They’d both gotten the same thing, Will noticed. Will had ordered first, of course. Nick had just quietly added, “I’ll have what he's having.” He wondered if Nick had ever eaten here before. Will himself had. “Hm?” Nick looked at Will in confusion, as if he didn’t hear him. Will cleared his throat. “I said, what else do you do? You can’t just… write all day. That doesn’t sound healthy,” he teased. 

Nick set his fork down. “I… I put on performances downtown, with things my brother’s written. I have a little troupe of good actors, and they’ll do that while I.. direct them, basically,” the shorter man explained. Will nodded. “Only… good actors?” Will questioned, raising an eyebrow in Nick’s direction. Nick hesitated, before shrugging. “They’re not the best. I mean, they try. But I just don’t think they have the enthusiasm that I do.” Enthusiasm for the theatre. It made Will smile. “You might consider getting new actors then.”

Nick sighed. “I’ve tried. You have no clue how hard it is to find people who have such pride for their work, and passion for theatre and acting.” Nick wasn’t wrong. Will didn’t know what that was like. He didn’t ever share his work with others, let alone try and put on a whole play by himself. Though he supposed Nick wasn’t doing it alone. He had his brother, whoever that was. He’d heard Portia talk about him. She was dating him after all. He did remember meeting him a moment at a poetry slam. Portia introduced him to… oh, what was the younger Bottom brother’s name? Nona? Nadia? Natasha? Nickel? That last one didn’t seem right. “Your brother, I recall Portia introducing me to him. I only talked to him for a minute or two, but what’s his name again?” Will didn’t mean anything by the question, and Nick understood that, but he did wonder where Will might have met his brother.

“Nigel. He’s great,” Nick smiled proudly. Will nodded. Nigel, that sounded accurate. Much better than Nickel. He knew it had started with an ‘N’. “Is he… Portia’s type?” Nick laughed. “I didn’t know she had a type.” Will opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided against it. “I… honestly don’t think she’s ever had a boyfriend.” Will finally spoke, holding back a laugh. “Right, with her super religious dad and all,” Nick realized. “What about Nigel? Has he ever dated?” Nick shook his head. “No, he’s not the dating type. He’s never showed interest, at least.” They were starting to run out of conversation topics. Maybe this wasn’t going as well as Nick thought. “What are we doing, honestly?” Will laughed a little, and Nick did too. This whole thing was ridiculous, he thought. The restaurant was nice, candle-lit, but Will would have thought it easier to just go somewhere more comfortable. A nice cafe, or something. Where him and Nick would be able to talk easier. He knew Portia and Nickel- Nigel were in the restaurant somewhere, probably close. 

That made him uncomfortable. “There’s this diner downtown, Nostradamus’s Diner. Do you just want to go there instead?” Will asked Nick, before finding Portia and Nigel a couple of tables down. He sighed, and Nick was confused. The shorter man turned around, and then quickly turned back. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Alright,” he stood up. “I know Nostradamus too, so he might give us a discount.” Will smiled a little - a genuine one, and the two headed out. They ended up just walking to the diner. The wind blew softly around them, and there were very little stars in the sky from pollution, but it wasn’t all bad. They thought maybe this could work out.

And it did. Until Will saw the inside of Nick’s fridge, filled to the brim with styrofoam boxes.


End file.
